Nigeria’s basic education system is undergoing one of its most deliberate reform phases in recent years, as the Tinubu administration moves to reposition the sector as a foundation for national development and economic growth. Anchored on stronger governance, improved financing, and measurable outcomes, the emerging strategy reflects a shift from fragmented interventions toward a coordinated, system-wide transformation aimed at improving access, strengthening classroom learning, and ensuring accountability across the education system. Precious Ugwuzor reports
Nigeria’s basic education system is at a turning point—and for the first time in years, there is a clear sense of direction. Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, education is no longer being treated as a routine social service but as a strategic pillar of national economic transformation.
This shift matters. For too long, the sector has been weighed down by fragmented interventions, weak coordination, and financing inefficiencies that have limited impact at the classroom level. What is now emerging under the Tinubu administration is a deliberate move toward a more disciplined, results-driven system—anchored on stronger governance, smarter financing, and measurable outcomes.
Driving this transformation is the Federal Ministry of Education, under the leadership of the
Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, through the National Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI). NESRI is a system-wide reset, aligning federal priorities, state implementation, and partner investments around access, quality, and accountability.
At the centre of execution is the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), increasingly serving as both a system convener and a reform driver—ensuring that national priorities translate into real improvements in schools and classrooms.
One of the clearest signals of seriousness has been the willingness of UBEC’s leadership, under Executive Secretary Aisha Garba, to confront long-standing system weaknesses directly.
A comprehensive diagnostic undertaken at the start of her tenure—aligned with the Tinubu administration’s broader reform momentum—laid bare persistent structural gaps: millions of outof-school children, weak learning environments, uneven teacher quality, and, strikingly, significant volumes of unutilised funding that had yet to translate into improved outcomes.
In response, UBEC developed the 2025–2031 Strategic Blueprint, aligned with NESRI and built on four priorities: improving learning quality, expanding access, strengthening financing, and enhancing institutional capacity.
Taken together, these actions signal a deliberate shift—from acknowledging system constraints to putting in place a clear, execution-focused pathway for reform.
Over 506 thousand teachers trained and more than 7.8 million learning materials distributed nationwide, strengthening classroom delivery and improving the foundations for better learning outcomes, and impacting over 3.9 million learners
Reform must ultimately be judged by what happens in the classroom—and here, progress is becoming tangible.
The curriculum has been revised to include digital literacy, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and civic competencies—aligning learning with the demands of a modern economy.
Teacher capacity is being strengthened through Nigeria’s largest professional development programme, backed by a ₦22 billion investment targeting 978,800 teachers. By 2025, over 506 thousand teachers had already been trained, focusing on inclusive pedagogy, structured lesson delivery, psychosocial support, and digital skills.
Instructional quality is being strengthened through the Structured Pedagogy Package, while the Smart Schools Programme has expanded from 6 to 21 schools—introducing digitally enabled, energy-efficient learning environments and serving as pilots to inform future national scale-up.
These efforts are complemented by large-scale distribution of teaching and learning materials, including over 7.8 million textbooks, 400,000 library resources, and a wide range of digital tools such as tablets, laptops, and smartboards to all States.
To strengthen accountability, UBEC is advancing a Unified National Learning Assessment Framework, alongside training over 2,600 Quality Assurance Officers using digital supervision tools—shifting the system toward measurable learning outcomes.
Nearly 700,000 out-of-school children reintegrated, alongside thousands of classrooms built and rehabilitated—significantly expanding access while improving learning conditions for over 900,000 learners
Access remains a major challenge, but the approach is becoming more systematic and results oriented.
UBEC has institutionalized revised Minimum Standards for infrastructure, embedding safety, inclusion, and climate resilience into all investments.
In 2025 alone, UBEC and State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) partnered to deliver 4,633 new classrooms; 6,114 renovated classrooms; 257 new schools; 3,458 WASH facilities; 11,280 school perimeter fences; and 333,862 units of school furniture.
Collectively, these investments improved learning conditions for over 900,000 learners. Early childhood education was also strengthened through the construction of 2,364 ECCDE centres.
On access, targeted community engagement by UBEC and States supported enrolment drives and enabled the reintegration of approximately 700,000 out-of-school children into formal education. Retention was further strengthened through ₦2.035 billion in grants to School-Based Management Committees, directly empowering communities to take a more active role in school governance.
Over ₦100 billion in previously unaccessed funds has been unlocked, alongside an additional ₦67 billion accessed from the 2025 allocation, with reforms enabling more effective and flexible investment in priority education needs.
Perhaps the most consequential reform has been fixing how education is financed.
For years, large volumes of matching grants remained unutilized—not due to lack of need or intent, but largely driven by restrictive policy, weak planning systems, and coordination gaps.
That is now changing. The Basic Education Action Plan has been redesigned into a digitised, resultsbased planning tool, with 27 states and the FCT already adopting the revised framework.
At the same time, reforms to the matching grant utilisation formula have improved alignment between spending and outcomes—maintaining 75% for infrastructure and teaching materials while expanding the remaining 25% to cover areas such as teacher development, ICT, quality assurance, and broader system strengthening. Importantly, these reforms have also introduced greater flexibility, enabling states to allocate resources in line with their specific priority needs while still operating within a structured, results-oriented framework.
As of December 2024, ₦121 billion in matching grant funds remained unaccessed, some from many years prior. Through sustained advocacy by the Honourable Minister of Education and the UBEC Executive Secretary, and direct engagement with State Governors, this trend has reversed significantly. Over ₦100 billion of previously unaccessed 2024 funds have now been drawn down across 30 states and the FCT, alongside an additional ₦67 billion accessed from the 2025 allocation—signaling a marked improvement in coordination and uptake. While about ₦94 billion still remains unaccessed across the 2024 and 2025 windows, roughly ₦34 billion is already being processed by UBEC following the lodgement of counterpart funds by states.
Encouragingly, early signs of improved utilisation are emerging, with more states translating accessed funds into frontline investments in infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, and system strengthening—marking a clear shift from longstanding stagnation to a more responsive and performance-driven financing system.
Strengthening Institutions for Sustained Delivery Under Current Reforms System-wide restructuring and digital investments are strengthening UBEC’s operational capacity, supported by real-time data systems and enhanced coordination with all states
Reform cannot succeed without strong institutions.
UBEC has undergone organisational restructuring, establishing dedicated functions for data, digital systems, partnerships, and communications, while strengthening performance management and accountability across departments.
Digital transformation is advancing through the deployment of modern tools and real-time data systems, and the development of the Basic Education Management Information System (BEMIS), thereby improving data governance and decision-making.
Quarterly engagement with SUBEBs has been institutionalized to track progress and resolve bottlenecks, while strengthened subnational systems—including SBMC structures—are improving implementation at scale.
Sustained progress is being supported through stronger partnerships.
Key initiatives include Luminah 2030, which targets access to education for one million underserved girls, alongside collaborations with the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to advance national digital literacy through teacher training.
Development partners continue to play a catalytic role. The World Bank, through flagship programmes such as the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity for Quality Basic Education for All (HOPE-EDU) and the Better Education Service Delivery for All – Additional Financing (BESDA-AF)—co-financed with the Global Partnership for Education—is helping to institutionalise results-based financing by linking disbursements to verified improvements in access, learning outcomes, and system governance.
Other partners, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), continue to support implementation, capacity building, and system strengthening across the sector.
The true measure of reform will be sustained delivery at scale.
The priorities ahead are clear: strengthening teacher effectiveness, embedding national learning assessments, accelerating school digitisation, closing infrastructure gaps, and reducing out-ofschool children through targeted interventions. Equally critical is sustaining financing reforms, strengthening subnational accountability, and aligning partnerships with national priorities.
The direction is clear, and early gains are encouraging.
What the Tinubu administration has set in motion is a shift toward a more disciplined, performance driven education system. If sustained, these reforms are well-positioned to deliver even greater dividends—expanding opportunity, improving learning outcomes, and ensuring that every Nigerian child has a fair chance to succeed.
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